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A novel way to massively improve the SQ of computer audio streaming

austinpop

By austinpop
in Music Servers

The Computer Audiophile
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Important and useful information about this thread

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Most important: please realize this thread is about bleeding edge experimentation and discovery. No one has The Answer™. If you are not into tweaking, just know that you can have a musically satisfying system without doing any of the nutty things we do here.

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BigGuy

BigGuy

Posted
Posted

Considering doing a multi-layer shielding construction.  I know <JohnS> has suggested an insulated wire for the JSGT and <lmiche> a shrink wrap insulated layer between shields in the JSGT360.  However, with the exception of the Gotham cable, examples of high performance shielding constructions do NOT seem  to include insulation between the shield layers.

 

Is there a technical basis for keeping the shield layers electrically isolated from each other with the exception  of their end connections?

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sig8

sig8

Posted
Posted

Let me share my small experience with shielding so far:

 

Read about it here, did not have all the required components at hand,  just had Belden tinned shield, and some heat shrink, so I thought let's try it on a USB cable. I have all my music files and and a boot partition on an external 4tb HDD in a Startech case connected to PC USB port.

 

I applied only one layer of Belden 8669, and sealed ends with heat shrink, and applied Techflex to avoid touching other cables. Played some music, and just felt a drop in noise floor, increased bass, and all other goodness people have talked about. Whatever it is, it was the best bang-for-the-buck ever. I am keeping that cable as is and would do a full 360 on another similar cable and report back in few weeks.

 

How about JSSG 360 on speaker cables? Couldn't hurt, could it?

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austinpop

austinpop

Posted
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Posted

Wow - can't wait for my goodies to arrive now! Looking forward to my hamfisted DIY efforts. 9_9

 

In the meantime, I followed up on @lmitche (El Jefe)'s other finding - spread spectrum clocking (SSC). It turns out the Innuos Zenith SE is an "open" system, in that you can access the BIOS, or even load a different OS if you want.

 

I first checked with Nuno, who wrote back the following regarding SSC:

 

Quote
I've confirmed with Supermicro that the CPU does not have any Spread Spectrum settings at all which means they do not use SS there. Spread Spectrum on the CPU is used mostly for overclocking hence seems to be present more with motherboards supporting separate CPUs. 
There are no SSC settings for the X10SBA BIOS I'm afraid. Our new customised motherboard for the Mk3 / Statement will allow managing SSC for Memory, USB, SATA and PCIe.

 

Curious, I dragged a monitor and keyboard over to my listening room and fired up the BIOS on the SE. The only SSC setting I could find was in the integrated graphics controller, of all things, and it was disabled. 

 

image.thumb.png.f1c86a5c61cd9046405a31f22ec487c8.png

 

Beyond this, I don't see anything else I can change wrt SSC in the Zenith SE, so will have to go by Supermicro's assurance to Nuno that SSC is not enabled for the processor and assorted controllers on this system.

 

Based on its fantastic SQ, I sure hope so!

My Audio Setup

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BigGuy

BigGuy

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, luisma said:

been following this post for months, it gets crazier by the minute ... 

I could foresee a cable construction which included solid copper, muMetal, etc., tubing which would need to be pre-shaped for individual installations.

I owned a highly rated digital interconnect by Chris Sommovigo back in the olden days which was actually constructed of copper tubing with bulbous RCA connectors that had to be carefully and gradually bent to install.

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austinpop

austinpop

Posted
  • Author
Posted
23 minutes ago, austinpop said:

Wow - can't wait for my goodies to arrive now! Looking forward to my hamfisted DIY efforts. 9_9

 

In the meantime, I followed up on @lmitche (El Jefe)'s other finding - spread spectrum clocking (SSC). It turns out the Innuos Zenith SE is an "open" system, in that you can access the BIOS, or even load a different OS if you want.

 

I first checked with Nuno, who wrote back the following regarding SSC:

 

 

Curious, I dragged a monitor and keyboard over to my listening room and fired up the BIOS on the SE. The only SSC setting I could find was in the integrated graphics controller, of all things, and it was disabled. 

 

image.thumb.png.f1c86a5c61cd9046405a31f22ec487c8.png

 

Beyond this, I don't see anything else I can change wrt SSC in the Zenith SE, so will have to go by Supermicro's assurance to Nuno that SSC is not enabled for the processor and assorted controllers on this system.

 

Based on its fantastic SQ, I sure hope so!

 

Been googling to see if there are hidden menus for this mobo that might expose SSC settings, but so far have not found any.

My Audio Setup

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Johnseye

Johnseye

Posted
Posted
54 minutes ago, sig8 said:

Let me share my small experience with shielding so far:

 

Read about it here, did not have all the required components at hand,  just had Belden tinned shield, and some heat shrink, so I thought let's try it on a USB cable. I have all my music files and and a boot partition on an external 4tb HDD in a Startech case connected to PC USB port.

 

I applied only one layer of Belden 8669, and sealed ends with heat shrink, and applied Techflex to avoid touching other cables. Played some music, and just felt a drop in noise floor, increased bass, and all other goodness people have talked about. Whatever it is, it was the best bang-for-the-buck ever. I am keeping that cable as is and would do a full 360 on another similar cable and report back in few weeks.

 

How about JSSG 360 on speaker cables? Couldn't hurt, could it?

 

Speaker cables are in the analog realm. Not sure but have been warned to be careful there. That said, it can't hurt to try. 

Audio System

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austinpop

austinpop

Posted
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Posted

Possible Meetup?

 

I wanted to float the idea of a meetup in the UK in late July. By a happy coincidence, I have a business trip to the UK the week of CanJam London, so I will be at that event in London (Jul 21-22). I will also be in Birmingham and Manchester on this trip.

 

I would love to meet up with local CA'ers and check out your "novel" systems if that's feasible. Perhaps if the stars align, we can even meet up as a group.

 

Probably easiest would be to PM me any suggestions, and I can coordinate and put all interested parties in touch.

 

My Audio Setup

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austinpop

austinpop

Posted
  • Author
Posted
19 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

If I understand John's post correctly, JSSG 360 is not necessary for DC cables used with an LPS-1.2.  I believe it also would not be necessary for DC cables used with a JS-2.

 

 

 

What JS is saying sounds reasonable. I don't think we really understand why JSSG 360 seems to work so well, on cable types ranging from DC to USB to Ethernet, even more so than JSSG in some cases. Yes, there are hypotheses. But in the spirit of empirical experimentation embodied in this thread, we have a group of folks who are willing to just try it and report what they hear.

 

My Audio Sensibility silver DC cable is currently feeding the TLS switch from an LPS-1.2. If/when I successfully JSSG 360 this cable, I will report back if the change is audible. This will be an(other) LPS-1.2 data point.

My Audio Setup

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auricgoldfinger

auricgoldfinger

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, austinpop said:

My Audio Sensibility silver DC cable is currently feeding the TLS switch from an LPS-1.2. If/when I successfully JSSG 360 this cable, I will report back if the change is audible. This will be an(other) LPS-1.2 data point. 

 

Did you decide to replace your modded switch with the TLS switch?

 

 

 

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Cornan

Cornan

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, austinpop said:

 

What JS is saying sounds reasonable. I don't think we really understand why JSSG 360 seems to work so well, on cable types ranging from DC to USB to Ethernet, even more so than JSSG in some cases. Yes, there are hypotheses. But in the spirit of empirical experimentation embodied in this thread, we have a group of folks who are willing to just try it and report what they hear.

 

My Audio Sensibility silver DC cable is currently feeding the TLS switch from an LPS-1.2. If/when I successfully JSSG 360 this cable, I will report back if the change is audible. This will be an(other) LPS-1.2 data point.

 

Be careful what JS says. It is just his own experiences, meaurements vs common knowledge. The variables are just to great to collect into a single know-how compartment. I am quite sure that there is more than RFI/EMI or inductance at play here! ?

🎛️  Audio System  

 

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RickyV

RickyV

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Cornan said:

 

Be careful what JS says. It is just his own experiences, meaurements vs common knowledge. The variables are just to great to collect into a single know-how compartment. I am quite sure that there is more than RFI/EMI or inductance at play here! ?

 

Yep, magic fairy dust

Meitner ma1 v2 dac,  Sovereign preamp and power amp,

DIY speakers, scan speak illuminator.

Raal Requisite VM-1a -> SR-1a with Accurate Sound convolution.

Under development:

NUC7i7dnbe, Euphony Stylus, Qobuz.

Modded Buffalo-fiber-EtherRegen, DC3- Isoregen, Lush^2

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BigGuy

BigGuy

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, luisma said:

Funny thing, if anyone follows the HQPlayer thread the last few topics are about shielding, galvanic isolation and such ... I found myself dreaming of cables, tin copper shielding and soldering tools ... crazier by the minute

Given the number of HQ Player threads, which one(s) were you referencing?

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LTG2010

LTG2010

Posted
Posted
On 6/9/2018 at 1:48 PM, lmitche said:

It might be a good idea. We won't know until it's tried. Go for it! 

 

On 6/16/2018 at 12:24 AM, austinpop said:

 

So by hybrid, do you mean one one layer of JSSG 360 as braid, then heatshield, and then one layer as copper?

 

Nice thought! Please tell us what you find.

I tried this with my curious USB previously copper foil wrapped with a gound wire (faraday cage). Copper foil - Tinned copper baid- Teflon insulating tape - Copper braid, connected at ends.

The copper foil smooths the high frequencies, adding braid tightened up the bass and lower frequencies.

On the sata cables already twin layer copper foil with teflon in between a more subtle effect at all frequencies, smoother and tighter.(By adding 1 layer braid on top)

It seems the braid has most effect overall. Its a dificult test to perform (especially with my memory) to do it properly I'll need 2 identical cables with different treatment to switch back and forth. Since my set up was a bit bright sounding to begin with, I'll leave it as is now.

 

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